Amount of Arabian genetic contribution in the Lipizzan horse
To improve performance and character traits, horses have commonly been used for crossbreeding and introgression throughout the 19th century. This was also the case with the population of Lipizzan horses of Piber and the Spanish Riding School, which were crossed with Arabian horses between 1776 and 1945.
The Lipizzan horse is known as a classical baroque horse. Sixty percent of founder genes come from baroque Spanish and Italian ancestors born in the 18th century. However, earlier studies in eight Lipizzan state stud farms have shown that about 23% of the founder gene proportion comes from Arabian horses. The aim of this study was to document the Arabian gene pool in the current Lipizzan population and to test the association of the body shapes of Lipizzan horses with Arabian genetic contributions.
The study was excecuted by comparing body shape with Arabian gene proportions in individual Lipizzan horses. The gene proportions varied from 21 to 29%. To compare Lipizzan shape transitions from Iberian type towards the oriental type, a sample of 32 Shayga Arabians were included.
The results show morphometric differences with an increase of Arabian genetic contribution in Lipizzan horses. The main differences were found in the conformation of the head, neck, withers and legs. So although selection in the Lipizzan breed favours the Iberian type, the Arabian shape characteristics are still present in the population. This indicates a segregation of Arabian founder haplotypes.
Expert opinion by Anouk van Breukelen
This study provides a foundation for shape analysis techniques. These techniques can be useful In the future for applying phenotypic evaluation and possibly predication in crossbreeding programmes.
> From: Druml et al., Archives Animal Breeding 61 (2018) 79-85. All rights reserved to the Authors and Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Click here for the online summary.
